DISCLAIMER: Requests for further detail about the events detailed in this blog will not be entertained. No one was injured during the events depicted, and therefore I consider the matter closed.
Chapter One - The Boring Bit (possibly)
Soo, where to begin. Well there are the usual apologies - I've not posted for a while, I can't remember what I've covered and I'm too lazy to read back. I think the last one I posted was the cooling towers one.
For a few weeks at work, there've been rumours of doom and gloom, clients pulling out of the business, major contracts being cancelled, and hundreds of people being laid off. One of the more interesting rumours is that the department I worked on was in breach of contract and therefore that contract was likely to be cancelled as well.
See what I said there? I "worked" there?
I went to work on saturday morning, unhappily employed, got on with my shift, when a certain meeting took place. For the sake of discretion, I'm not going to go into detail, because, well, it's my business really, and there's only a certain amount that I'm gonna share on here.
The general outcome of the meeting was that more would be revealed to us the following tuesday. The manager of the department would have a short meeting with us to explain further.
Well on tuesday, the manager was nowhere to be seen, so his immediate junior, due to lose her own job a couple of weeks later, explained to all present that we had the option of leaving the job now or [not much] later.
So on friday, I was unhappily employed, and as of tuesday morning, I am happily unemployed. We were given the impression that those of us who left were not the first and wouldn't be the last. Seems even since tuesday that others have left. So wahey, go them.
Sooo, what did I do? Well I said bye to the people that were remaining, and eventually sodded off, before hanging around for a while to wait for my mate
[funny, as I'm explaining about being unhappily employed, Ross Noble is on TV heckling one of the audience "I work in an office, I couldn't decide whether to come an' see the show or to commit suicide". My job wasn't THAT bad, not quite anyway, but I can kinda identify with it. A final chat, a walk to the bus stop and a farewell later, and I rode away on the bus, casting a last look at the building that I'd worked in for three years.
So I went down to the jobcenter to register as unemployed, and there was actually a vacancy for a photographer's job. Only problem is that not having a full car driving licence, I wasn't eligible to apply, not having one.
But I met a mate at the pub afterwards and sat for an hour or two just chatting and chilling out, when along came Si.
Picture yer typical punk lad, blue hair, black hoodie, combat trousers, Same age as me, quite a good mate [insofar as it's possible to be quite a good mate with someone after not having seen them for 6 years - well my reasoning was that we were good mates at school so we'd be good mates now - I was right as it turned out later].
So chilling out, sitting about and generally chatting round, I took the bike home and arranged to meet them a couple of hours later.
Chapter Two - The Not-Boring bit. Possibly.
So, a couple of hours later, I meet one of my mates at the pub as arranged - Si is nowhere to be seen. I went into the pub, mildly dismayed - we had 6 years of catching up to do - and bought a pint, struggling to keep a straight face when the person behind the bar demanded £2.90 for a pint (just over half a litre) - you can buy 4 litres from the off licence for £6.30.
Moaning inwardly about this, I wandered outside and spent half an hour just chatting about this and that.
Then, wandering along as if he'd forgotten he was supposed to be here, Si came round the corner. He had a pint, we had a chat and decided to move on. So off the the offlicence, where we got 24 cans for £11.00 and wandered up to our mate's house.
So we're there, chatting about everything, anything, typical drunken chat, sat on the balcony, having a good time, watching the world go by and building a steadily increasing pile of beer cans.
About 2 hours in, there's a lull in the conversation, while we get fresh beer or something.
Out of the night, somwehere between our housing estate and the one across the river, there's a huge bang, the sound of metal twisting, and the screech of a tyre. Nothing drawn out, one second it was silent, one second later it was silent. In between was this crashing noise.
Of course, alcohol makes one ask stupid questions. "Did you hear that?" "What was that then?" darted across the table at each other, after a short discussion whether through curiosity, altruism or plain nosiness, we ended up wandering down. Not far from where we were, its hazards on, was a car, the occupants already sat on the pavement halfway through arguing. No one else was there, no bystanders, even the people who's front wall the car had come within inches of demolishing were evidently asleep or something.
The car was a mess, huge scars down the front and side of the car, one wheel was completely smashed, crushed under the car at a 90 degree angle, the car wasn't going anywhere.
Brake fluid dripped down from under the car into the kerb, where it ran down towards a nearby drain.
The conversation was as expected "f'ckin hell, what happened, what a mess etc". Some builders had put a skip in the road, evidently local kids or something had stolen the warning lights put there to prevent this sort of thing, and these people were teararsing along, had swerved to avoid it and ended up hitting the kerb with a hell of a bang.
The lighting on the road was poor, the car was not well lit, and the rear of the car was sticking out into the road blocking half the lane it was in. So the owners arranged to get the car recovered, and, since we didn't witness the accident, and everyone concerned was okay, we returned back up to our little party.
"Yikes what a mess" etc etc. So we carried on for anouther couple of hours, getting steadily more pissed, sat lazily rocking back on the chairs, feet on the table having indepth conversations about everything and anything.
But, our mate was tired, so me and Si disappeared off taking the last of the beer. I ended up wandering along and found myself in Si's house. No, sorry, this is not the start of a raunchy gay sex novel or anything - that sort of stuff doesn't really appeal to either of us. So after chilling and chatting for another hour, drinking yet more alcohol, listening to music etc, Si went to bed and I sodded off home.
Moaning inwardly about this, I wandered outside and spent half an hour just chatting about this and that.
Then, wandering along as if he'd forgotten he was supposed to be here, Si came round the corner. He had a pint, we had a chat and decided to move on. So off the the offlicence, where we got 24 cans for £11.00 and wandered up to our mate's house.
So we're there, chatting about everything, anything, typical drunken chat, sat on the balcony, having a good time, watching the world go by and building a steadily increasing pile of beer cans.
About 2 hours in, there's a lull in the conversation, while we get fresh beer or something.
Out of the night, somwehere between our housing estate and the one across the river, there's a huge bang, the sound of metal twisting, and the screech of a tyre. Nothing drawn out, one second it was silent, one second later it was silent. In between was this crashing noise.
Of course, alcohol makes one ask stupid questions. "Did you hear that?" "What was that then?" darted across the table at each other, after a short discussion whether through curiosity, altruism or plain nosiness, we ended up wandering down. Not far from where we were, its hazards on, was a car, the occupants already sat on the pavement halfway through arguing. No one else was there, no bystanders, even the people who's front wall the car had come within inches of demolishing were evidently asleep or something.
The car was a mess, huge scars down the front and side of the car, one wheel was completely smashed, crushed under the car at a 90 degree angle, the car wasn't going anywhere.
Brake fluid dripped down from under the car into the kerb, where it ran down towards a nearby drain.
The conversation was as expected "f'ckin hell, what happened, what a mess etc". Some builders had put a skip in the road, evidently local kids or something had stolen the warning lights put there to prevent this sort of thing, and these people were teararsing along, had swerved to avoid it and ended up hitting the kerb with a hell of a bang.
The lighting on the road was poor, the car was not well lit, and the rear of the car was sticking out into the road blocking half the lane it was in. So the owners arranged to get the car recovered, and, since we didn't witness the accident, and everyone concerned was okay, we returned back up to our little party.
"Yikes what a mess" etc etc. So we carried on for anouther couple of hours, getting steadily more pissed, sat lazily rocking back on the chairs, feet on the table having indepth conversations about everything and anything.
But, our mate was tired, so me and Si disappeared off taking the last of the beer. I ended up wandering along and found myself in Si's house. No, sorry, this is not the start of a raunchy gay sex novel or anything - that sort of stuff doesn't really appeal to either of us. So after chilling and chatting for another hour, drinking yet more alcohol, listening to music etc, Si went to bed and I sodded off home.
Epilogue: The boring bit at the end.
So how are things at home? They're ok. The family took my unemployment rather less badly than they took my 6am return home, but hey that's all sorted now. And me? I'm happier than I've been for a long time. No more AHT, ACW, 121, Crappy three letter acronyms, stupid management speak, little management fads and stupid pointless memos, meetings and bureaucracy. Thank feck for that.
I'm gonna look for a job obviously, because I have committments of my own.
But I think I deserve a week off, and so I'm going to have one. I'm going to another party with Si etc, and I've got to go and watch the towers come down. So, let's see how the next week or so goes.
Oh, and my camera lens, that finally arrived. 12 days after I bought it, paying £5 for next-day. But I was so elated at actually receiving the damn thing that I neglected to send an abusive message.
So that's cool :).
I'm gonna look for a job obviously, because I have committments of my own.
But I think I deserve a week off, and so I'm going to have one. I'm going to another party with Si etc, and I've got to go and watch the towers come down. So, let's see how the next week or so goes.
Oh, and my camera lens, that finally arrived. 12 days after I bought it, paying £5 for next-day. But I was so elated at actually receiving the damn thing that I neglected to send an abusive message.
So that's cool :).
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